Bad Apple
by Lavada Lenore
Summary: (Yami-Marik will be called 'Malik' throughout most of this fic) (named after song 'Bad Apple', English version, by Christina Vee/Touhou) Some people don't deserve a second chance. Some people are just so horrible that they should just be killed, so the world never has to deal with their evilness ever again. Yugi decided that Malik was not one of those people.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Malik slowly tried to open his eyes, but couldn't yet find the strength. His first thought was, _how long have I been out…_

_And where am I?_

He could hear a blur of voices…

"Hey, Yuge, you think he should be checked for rabies or somethin'?"

"I'd be more worried about you, Wheeler."

"Eh, you're gonna start losing some teeth real soon if you don't cut out da dog jokes, Kaiba!"

"I'd like to see you try."

"Hey, you guys, I think he's waking up… he's waking up! Oh my god, Joey, Tea, he's waking up, _he's waking up!_"

"Yugi, you're overreacting, he's not going to wake up for a while… actually, I think he is… oh my gosh!"

Malik tried to open his eyes again and this time kept them open. Everything was a blur for a second, but when it came into focus, he could see the people who had been talking. Little Joey… Kaiba… that Tea girl… Yugi…

Looking around him, he began to take in his situation. He was in a large, dimly lit room. He looked at his arms and could see they were spread out, and his wrists were strapped to a wall. He struggled against the chains and kicked his feet, but his wrists were firmly chained to the wall.

"Where am I?" Malik mumbled. They didn't answer. "I said, '_where am I?' _I demand to know!"

"Buddy, you're not gonna be demandin' anythin' for a _long_ while," somebody said. Malik turned his head in his direction. It was little Joey, of course.

"Where am I!?" Malik screamed, loud enough to make little Yugi yelp and jump back.

"We'll answer you in a second, Malik," Yugi said. Malik noticed Yugi was tightly clutching a baseball bat to his chest.

Malik growled. Looking around, he saw more people than he originally thought were here. Mai and Joey's sister… as well as Ishizu, Odion, and his weaker half…

His weaker half?

Malik stared at him quizzically for a moment. Yes, there he was, Marik, in his own body, standing in front of him. The moment Malik looked at him Marik took a couple of steps back.

"How are you here?" Malik said. "How are you in your own body?"

"That's exactly what I was wondering about you," Marik said.

"Okay, buddy, so I'm gonna be askin' you some questions," Joey said, cutting off Marik and grabbing the baseball bat from Yugi. He tapped it against his palm in a way Malik guessed was supposed to look threatening. "And when I ask you these questions, I'm gonna call ya Malik instead of Yami-Marik to save time. We clear?"

Malik just growled at him.

"Kay then," Joey said, and turned to the others. "You guys can leave for a sec while I ask him some questions."

The others filed out, Kaiba doing so quite reluctantly. Joey backed up several feet, probably to avoid Malik kicking him.

"So, first things first, aren't you s'posed to be in the Shadow Realm instead of up here?" his 'interrogator' asked him.

Malik stayed silent.

"Answer da question!" Joey said.

"I will answer your question if you tell me why I am chained to the wall," Malik said.

"You're chained to da wall cause you're a deranged psycho who's very dangerous and could go on a killin' spree at any second, now why aren't you in da Shadow Realm?" Joey asked.

Malik sighed. "I escaped."

"Whoa, whoa, hold up here, so you can just _escape _from da Shadow Realm anytime you want?" Joey asked.

"No, not anytime I want, in case you haven't noticed it took me several years, ten Shadow Realm years." He was beginning to lose his patience with this fool.

"Whaddaya mean, 'ten Shadow Realm years'? It's only been one year here," Joey asked.

"Time goes ten times slower in the Shadow Realm," Malik growled. "You'll soon learn that after I send you there!"

"You ain't gonna be sendin' me anywhere, pal, 'cause you don't have the Millennium Rod," Joey said, crossing his arms and smirking in a way that made Malik very angry indeed.

"I'm quite aware of that, little Joey," Malik said through clenched teeth. "But I have other ways of sending people to the Shadow Realm besides just the Rod." Malik grinned evilly.

Joey shook his head and sighed. _Fool_, Malik thought. Joey obviously didn't understand Malik's true power.

"Okay, next question," Joey said. "How're you in your own body, and not in Marik's? I mean, you look da same as ya did before, but Marik's still walking 'round freely!"

"I don't know," Malik said.

"Well, you're s'posed ta know, 'cause it's your body!" Joey said.

"I don't know," Malik repeated. "And even if I did, I would be unlikely to tell you. Now, let me out of here!"

"No, we're not lettin' you go, or you're gonna hurt somebody!" Joey said.

Malik felt a sudden, unexpected anger rush. "_Let me go!_" he screamed. Joey made no move to remove the chains. Malik desperately struggled against the chains and thrashed his feet wildly, screaming his head off. He shouted out again, trying to force his wrists out of the chains.

He could hear Joey calling the others for help, the baseball bat clattering to the floor. "Hey, Yuge, help! His eyes are doin' dat vein thing, he's goin' psycho on me!"

The others ran in, but Malik paid them no mind. He could barely hear what they were saying over his own screaming. He struggled even more and saw the chains on his wrists slowly becoming undone. He tried to pull his wrists off the wall a couple more times. Almost… almost…

"Yugi! Look, he's about to get out!" he heard Tea shriek. Malik didn't care about her right now, if he got free they would all be dead, every one of them, their blood would splatter the walls like rain…

The second he managed to get his arms free of the wall, he felt a sharp stabbing pain in his right shoulder. Everything started spinning and going blurry. He tried to grab anything in front of him, but his vision was going dark, his eyes were beginning to shut no matter how hard he tried to keep them open…

And then everything went black.

* * *

Yugi held the syringe in his hand, standing over Malik's unconscious body and breathing heavily.

"Oh my god, Yugi, if you hadn't done that in time he would have… we would all be…" Tea said, eyes widening at the thought.

Yugi sighed. "I know," he said. "What do we do with him now?"

"I say we kill him," Joey said, picking up the baseball bat. "That psychotic good-for-nothin' freak is dangerous, he's gonna end up gettin' someone killed!"

"But if we do that, we'll be just as bad as him…" Yugi said, nudging Malik's unconscious body with his foot. "In fact, I kinda feel bad I even used the knock-out medicine."

"But... but Yugi, my darker half is a danger!" Marik said, fear creeping into his eyes. "If we don't put a stop to him, he will try to send the world into darkness again!"

"That doesn't mean we have to hurt him…" Yugi said.

Ishizu sighed. "Yugi, I know you mean well, but I don't think you realize the full extent of his evil," she said, coming closer to Yugi and putting a hand on his shoulder. "If we don't stop him, he could put all of our lives in grave danger. It is certain."

"I know," Yugi sighed, looking up at her. "But do we really have to kill him? Can't we talk to him for a bit more?"

"He's psycho, Yuge! He doesn't wanna 'talk', he wants ta kill us!" Joey said.

"For once, that knucklehead's right, Yugi," Mai said. "I say we just put an end to him and get on with our lives."

"Yugi, just kill him and get on with it, I haven't got all day!" Kaiba snapped. "I have important KaibaCorp business to attend to, just kill the guy and be done with it!"

"Kaiba, do you have any soul whatsoever?" Tea asked. "Yugi, we can't just kill him!"

"I agree with Tea," Serenity chimed in. "He's a person, just like the rest of us."

"He isn't a person, he's an evil demon who needs to be properly dealt with," Odion said. "He can't just be set free to roam the streets, he's dangerous!"

"I know, I know!" Yugi said, backing a couple steps away from them. He was horrible under pressure. Some of the people in this room wanted him to kill Malik; some of them wanted him to stay alive. Most of them obviously wanted him dead, but Yugi knew in his heart that just killing somebody wasn't right.

He looked back at Malik's unconscious body and cautiously crept closer to it. He sat down next to Malik's unconscious figure and just stared at it for a second. Tentatively, he poked Malik's side, just to make sure he wasn't awake. He pitied the guy just a little bit; even after all he'd done to them, there had to be _some _good in him… didn't there? He couldn't be pure evil, you can't make a person out of anger and hatred and jealousy alone. There has to be a little of the other emotions, right? They were probably just buried really, deep. He could tell his friends were looking at him weird, but he didn't really care. He poked Malik again, but the demon didn't stir. _No, don't think of him as a demon, think of him as a bad man who can be good,_ Yugi thought to himself.

Every so often, he'd look up at his friends, who were patiently awaiting his decision. Well, most of them. Kaiba looked annoyed, and whenever Yugi looked at him he would say something along the lines of, 'Are you done yet?' and Yugi would shake his head, causing Kaiba to roll his eyes and sigh.

After a while, Yugi got to his feet and brushed himself off. "Okay, guys, after a bit of thinking, I've decided that we should tie him up again and wait 'til he wakes up, and then try talking to him some more."

Marik sighed. "As you wish, Yugi. However, those chains are obviously not going to hold him back any longer." He nodded to the ripped-up chains on the wall.

"I know…" Yugi said. "We're gonna have to find some other way to tie him up…" He looked at Joey, who started grinning and rubbing his hands together.

"Yuge, I think I got an idea…" Joey said.

* * *

Malik's eyes fluttered open again. The first thing he noticed was that everybody in front of him looked odd for some reason, but he couldn't tell why because his vision was still blurry… he blinked his eyes a couple more times and his vision cleared. Looking at them again, he realized that they were… upside down. _Why are they…_ he thought, but then he realized that they weren't upside down; he was.

Looking down- up? - at himself, he saw that he was hanging from the ceiling by his feet. A rope tied both his feet together, and this rope was tied to the ceiling. His hands were also tied together behind his back, so he couldn't move them. He was hanging roughly four feet from the ground.

"Hey, Malik," Joey said, a grin on his face. "Enjoyin' yourself there?"

Malik glared at him. Joey just laughed.

"We could have just tied you back to the wall with stronger chains, but Joey wanted to do it this way," Yugi said.

"Let me go!" Malik yelled. "Untie my hands and let me down, _now!_"

"You see, Malik, dat's what's so cool about you bein' tied up an' all: we don't hafta do what you say," Joey said. "We could do anythin' we want to you, an' you couldn't do anythin' back to us." To prove his point, Joey poked Malik's cheek.

Malik bit his hand.

Joey yelped and jumped back, hopping up and down and shaking his hand, screaming, "He _bit_ me! Oh my god, Yuge, he _bit_ me! Am I gonna get some sorta disease or somethin'?"

"Blech," Malik said, sticking out his tongue in disgust. In truth, he knew biting Joey's hand was a bit of an unintelligent choice. Joey's hand tasted horrible.

"Malik, if you bite my hand again, I'm gonna do somethin' really horrible to ya, I swear!" Joey said, coming back towards Malik.

Malik growled and tried to hit Joey, but he couldn't with his hands tied behind his back. He thrashed around wildly again (which was harder to do as he was upside down), screaming and trying to untie the rope around his wrists. Joey and the rest of them were trying to get him to stop, but Malik could only hear a little of what they were yelling at him over his screams.

"Hey, stop-"

"We're tryin' ta-"

"Hey, quit thrashing around!"

"Malik, if you don't-"

"_Stop it!_"

"Stop or I swear we'll-"

"Malik, please-"

"We'll send you back to the Shadow Realm!"

_Shadow Realm_.

Malik immediately stopped thrashing. Breathing hard, he could feel his pulse speed up substantially. _Just… just don't move and they- they won't send you back, just don't move, _he told himself silently. He could hear their voices, but was too shut off to see to whom they belonged.

"What did we say…?"

"…do ya think?"

"Was it the 'please'…?"

"No, maybe it was…"

"I think da last thing we said was…"

"Shadow Realm…"

"Ah, that's probably…"

Joey looked at Malik. Malik was hanging perfectly still. _Don't… move…_

"Hey, you guys," Joey said to the others loudly. "I think we should send him to da Shadow Realm."

Malik stiffened even further. "No, no, no…" he muttered. "Not again…" Looking at Joey, he saw him grin.

"So dat's why ya stopped," Joey said. "Don't worry, Malik, I was just testin'. We ain't gonna send you to da Shadow Realm… yet."

Malik's expression immediately hardened again, and he yelled some choice words at Joey.

"Oh, dat's some _very_ colorful language, pal," Joey said. "Don't say dat kinda stuff 'round Serenity!"

"I can say anything I want," Malik said. He called Joey a dirty word to prove his point, making Yugi wince.

"Okay, Malik, that's enough," Yugi said. Malik glared at him but stopped talking.

"'Kay, Malik, so I'm gonna continue askin' you some questions, but these guys'll stay dis time to make sure you don't go all psycho on me again," Joey said.

"Actually, Joey, is it okay if I go out of the room while you do this?" Tea asked, with a nervous glance towards Malik. "He's kinda freaking me out."

"Sure," Joey said. "Dis guy'd freak anybody out."

"Same with me, Joey, I don't want to be any closer to that psychotic freak show than I have to," Mai said, as both she and Tea started towards the door. Joey's kid sister (Malik didn't know her name and really didn't care) followed them. Malik heard her whisper "He really scares me" to Mai, which made Malik grin. It was good to know that at least some of them still feared him.

"Um…" a voice said, and he and the others looked in that direction. It was Marik. "Joey, may I… may I be excused from the room as well? I would prefer if I were not so close to my dark side…"

"Coward!" Malik snapped at him. Both Joey and Marik ignored him.

"Sure, Marik, you can leave, it makes sense for you ta not wanna be around dis nut job," Joey once again grabbed a baseball bat and tapped it against his hand as Marik left the room. "But you're prob'ly not gonna be as much of a danger, since you're kinda… upside down," Joey added to Malik.

Malik glared at him and swore under his breath.

"So, here's somethin' I just wanted ta know outta curiosity," Joey asked. "Why are ya so insane?"

"Because of a dozen reasons I'm not obligated to explain to you," Malik said. Joey gave him an annoyed look.

"Okay, whateva, next question," Joey said. "You don't wanna be sent back to da Shadow Realm, right?"

"No, obviously I enjoy being imprisoned in an eternity of cold, darkness and suffering with no way out, what do _you_ think!?" Malik yelled.

"Then why'd ya send all those people to da Shadow Realm?" Joey asked. Malik rolled his eyes, or rolled his eyes as best as he could while hanging upside down.

"I sent them to the Shadow Realm because I want my _enemies _to go through that," Malik said. He was really beginning to get a headache from being upside down for so long.

"Well, dat's a little self-absorbed, don't ya think?" Joey said. "I mean, you're not da only person dat matters on dis planet!"

"I'm the only one I care about," Malik grinned. "The rest of you can go kill yourselves for all I care; in fact, I'd probably do it for you."

Joey sighed. "Really, dude, you could give _Kaiba_ lessons in narcissism," he said, earning a glare from Kaiba. "So, next question I suppose: what would you be willin' ta do if we _don't_ send ya to da Shadow Realm?"

"Joey!" Yugi whispered.

"What? I wanna know!" Joey said. "So, Malik, what do you think would you be willin' ta do for us?"

"Would not killing you suffice?" Malik asked.

"Eh… no," Joey said.

"What about not _trying_ to kill you?"

"No."

"Not killing your friends?"

"Nope."

"Not killing your family?"

"Nuh-uh."

"Well, then I don't know," Malik said.

Joey stared at him for a moment, apparently thinking hard. Yugi tapped his shoulder and the two huddled closer and started whispering to each other, and Malik couldn't tell what they were saying. He strained to hear, but they were talking too quietly. Then the others started whispering too, and Malik just became annoyed.

"I'm still here, you know," Malik said. Joey just held up a hand to get him to shut up. Malik glared at him.

They finally stopped whispering and Joey turned back to Malik. "Well, we decided dat we're not gonna kill you or send you to da Shadow Realm… yet," he said. "We're gonna keep you locked up real tight while we talk about what we gonna do with ya."

"So… are you gonna let me down now?" Malik asked hopefully.

"Eh… I would, but the rope's kinda too high for me…" Joey said, looking above his head to where Malik's feet were tied. "Hey, Kaiba, you're tall. Let him down for us, will ya?"

"Why do I have to do what you say, Wheeler?" Kaiba said. "I don't take orders from anybody, especially dogs."

"Kaiba, please," Yugi said. "You're the tallest person here, and we all can't reach it." He jumped up and down and tried to reach the rope tying Malik's feet together. He couldn't, of course, because he was about the size of a five-year-old.

"See, Kaiba? Please do it?" Yugi said.

Kaiba sighed and pulled a knife out of his pocket.

"Kaiba, why do you have a weapon concealed in your pocket?" Ishizu asked.

"Just in case," Kaiba said, approaching the bonds on Malik's feet and beginning to cut them off.

"Hey, wait, you fool—I'm too high up, if you do that I'll—" Malik yelled, but Kaiba wasn't listening. Kaiba made the final cut and Malik crashed four feet down to the ground.

"Ow…" Malik moaned. He glared at Kaiba. "You knew that was going to happen."

"Yes. Yes I did."

Malik stood up and tried to charge at Kaiba, but he stumbled back to the floor again. His hands still being tied behind his back was throwing off his balance. "I don't think you are planning on untying my hands, are you?" he asked Joey, who shook his head.

"Come on now, pal," Joey said, grabbing Malik's arm and forcefully pulling him up. A little _too_ forcefully for Malik's taste.

Malik growled and pulled away from him. "Don't touch me."

Joey smirked and grabbed his arm again, keeping a tighter grip this time. Malik screamed and struggled to get away, screaming and once again trying to bite Joey.

"Hey, guys, help!" Joey called to the others, unsuccessfully attempting to pin Malik to the ground. The others jumped on Malik and tackled him to the floor facedown. He screamed and struggled, desperately trying to get them off him.

The others were doing whatever they could to keep Malik down. Yugi actually had his tiny arms wrapped around Malik's neck, and Joey appeared to be trying to strangle Malik (but fortunately failed because of Yugi's arms). Kaiba was trying to keep Malik from kicking anybody by holding Malik's legs down, and Ishizu was holding Malik's head to the floor to keep him from biting anybody or bashing his head into somebody. Odion was sitting on Malik's back, simply trying to keep him from getting up. Malik savagely tried to fight each of them off, screaming and kicking his feet, but in the end all five of them were too much and he stopped struggling, breathing heavily.

"You're psycho!" Joey said, all of them still holding him down. "Why's it take five guys ta hold one guy down?"  
"I don't want you people to touch me," Malik replied.

"Eh, well like it or not, we're gonna be doin' a lotta touching ta make sure you don't hurt nobody," Joey said, getting up and grabbing Malik's arm again. "Kay, you guys, you can let him up now."

The others got off him as Malik staggeringly stood up. Joey grabbed his arm and began to drag Malik out of the room, meeting little resistance from Malik. The others followed as well.

Joey threw open the door, and the girls and Marik immediately rushed up to them.

"What happened?"  
"He looks beat up, and so do the rest of you."

"Are you guys alright?"

"Did he hurt somebody? Is somebody dead?"

"Whoa, whoa, I'll answer your questions in just a sec, we got to get him locked up again," Joey said, dragging Malik to a small room. It was about the size of a cabinet. It had another door, with a strange technological device on it with a small screen. Malik didn't understand or care what it was. Joey opened this door and threw Malik into the next room. It was a large, bare white room with no windows and not much in it… just a bed, a mirror, and a small restroom. Once Malik was in the room, Joey cut off the bonds tying his hands together.

"Where are we, exactly?" Malik asked.

"Well, ya know da Battle City blimp?" Joey said. "It turns out, Kaiba's got a bunch of those kinda things. He let us use dis one."

"Is it in the air?" Malik asked.

"Nah, we're landed." Joey said.

_That's good._ He wouldn't be able to escape if they were in the air.

"Now, stay in here, and we'll come talk to you after we've decided what to do with you," Joey said. Malik sighed and turned away as Joey began to close the door…

And Malik charged towards the door at the last second, right before the door closed.

He pushed past Joey, opened the next door as well, shoved away the startled rest of the group (who had been standing outside the door), and took off running down the hall.

He heard Joey screaming, "Come back 'ere, Malik!" Malik kept running, where to he didn't even know. The entire group was chasing after him now.

The hall eventually split into two halls that went left and right. Malik went down the right hall, his pursuers following quite a ways behind, screaming for him to stop. He jumped into a closet of some sort, and tried his hardest to stay perfectly silent. He could hear the voices of the group.

"Where is he?"

"Where'd he go?"

"He's probably hiding somewhere!"

"Dat coward! Come out here an' fight me like a man, Malik!"

"Wheeler, the last time he 'fought you like a man', it took five people just to keep him from killing somebody. Challenging him would definitely not be a smart idea."

"I can take him! He caught me off-guard last time!"  
"Of course he did, Wheeler. Of course he did."

Through the crack under the door, Malik could see Mai's high heels. He held his breath and stood as still as he possibly could. _Don't… move…_ The doorknob turned… the door opened a crack…

And then it closed again. Malik heard Mai scolding Kaiba and Joey for being such idiots, and telling them to get back to looking for Malik. And then she moved on, her high heels clicking away from the door.

Malik let out his breath. Foolish girl! Joey and Kaiba's foolishness so easily distracted her that she didn't even remember to look in the closet she was checking!

He heard the voices slowly getting quieter as the group seemed to move down the hall in their search. He wouldn't be able to check if they were still there, because if they were he would give away his position. He would have to run for it. He was aware that it was risky, but he was more than willing to take that chance. Being in this closet so long was driving him crazy.

He waited until he could wait no longer. He could still vaguely hear the voices of his pursuers, but he couldn't wait anymore. He threw open the closet door and ran to the left, away from his chasers. He expected them to see him and run after him, but they didn't. When he was about half-way down the hall and nobody had started running after him, he realized something.

They hadn't seen him.

He slowed down and laughed a little, looked behind him to the group. They were too far away to see him, he could escape easily now!

He saw a door at the end of the hall with a red, glowing sign above it:

EXIT.

He wondered how he had neglected to see that when he was choosing whether to go left or right. It had probably been too far away to see at that point, or he had been too preoccupied with trying to get away. Either way, Malik didn't care. He started running again. He was about ten doors from the exit… even if they did see him now, it would be too late, it would be too late, he was going to make it, he would escape, just eight more doors… 7... 6... 5...

And then someone jumped out of a room and tackled him to the floor.

* * *

Marik frantically tried to pin down his flailing and screaming dark half. Malik kept looking around for a second after Marik jumped him, as if he expected someone else to come out of the room as well. No one did.

It took his dark side a moment, but then he seemed to realize it was just Marik and no one else, and he… he just stopped. He stopped screaming, stopped struggling, and just stared at Marik.

And a grin started to spread across the demon's face. And he started to laugh. It was slow and quiet at first, but it began to escalate into a loud, almost psychopathic laugh.

It was terrifying.

"Fool!" Marik's dark side howled through his laughter, shoving Marik off him and sitting on Marik's stomach, his knees jabbing into Marik's chest. "Did you really think you could take me on by yourself?"

Marik desperately struggled to get his insanely laughing dark side off him, but Malik was so much stronger. Marik began to realize just how physically able Malik really was. Although they technically had the same body, Malik was somehow far taller and more muscular than Marik. He guessed that in a physical fight, his chances of winning were probably slim.

Not a comforting thought.

"G-Get off of me!" Marik screamed, realizing how high-pitched and feminine his voice had sounded only after he said it. Which, of course, just made Malik laugh harder.

"There's a reason I call you my _weaker_ half, Marik!" his dark side screamed.

Marik desperately struggled to get away from this… this _demon_ sitting on top of him, flailing his arms around wildly as he tried to get him off him…

And accidentally punched his dark side in the face.

Malik staggered backwards, clutching his face. He was still for a while before slowly pulling his trembling hand away from his face. The demon's hand was now covered in blood.

Marik gasped and scrambled away from his dark side. "Oh my god… I-I didn't mean to, I was just trying to get you off of me, I wasn't trying to punch you, please…!" But his dark side didn't listen. A look of total anger and rage filled his face as he leapt at Marik and sat on his stomach again. Pure insanity and rage was apparent in the spirit's eyes as he leaped at Marik.

* * *

"How long have we been looking for Malik?" Mai asked, as she opened yet another door.

"I dunno," Joey said. "At least three hours."

"Actually," Kaiba said, checking his watch. "It's been about ten minutes."

Joey glared at him. "Oh, shut up, rich boy." He was really beginning to become tired of spending this much time with Kaiba.

"Make me," Kaiba said, checking another room.

"You wanna go, Kaiba?" Joey said, getting into a fighting position with his fists up.

"Wheeler, you couldn't 'go' with a baby chipmunk," Kaiba said, checking yet another door for Malik.

Joey growled at Kaiba.

"Oh, look, you're growling like the dog you are," Kaiba said. Joey ran at him in his anger, but Tea stopped him.

"Quit being immature!" she said, pushing Joey away from Kaiba.

"He started it, why do _I_ need to quit bein' -" Joey said, but Mai cut him off.

"Hey…" she said. "Who else hears that?"

Joey listened. It sounded like… screaming or something like that, but it sounded far away.

"It sounds as though someone is screaming," Ishizu said. "Perhaps they require our assistance."

"Big brother, what if it's Marik?" Serenity asked, looking up at him. "You guys told him to wait back there in case Malik came back, remember?"

"You're right, Serenity!" Yugi gasped. "I wonder if he's okay."

"It's too far away to tell if it's Marik or not," Kaiba said. "I think we should advance cautiously in case it's Malik-"

But Odion cut him off and shoved past him. He ran back towards the hall they'd been in before, crying "Master Marik!"

"Oh my!" Ishizu said. "Odion, wait!" Odion had already turned the corner. Ishizu ran after him, and soon everybody, including Joey, was running towards the screaming sound.

When they'd turned a couple corners and gone down a couple halls, they finally made it to the hall they'd been in before when they first started looking for Malik. At the far end of the hall, Joey saw something. Two figures, but Joey couldn't see who they were. "You guys, I think I see someone!" Joey said.

Odion pushed past him and ran towards the two figures, screaming, "Master Marik! Master Marik!"

The others started to run down the hall after him. For some reason, about half-way down the hall, Odion abruptly stopped, apparently shocked. Joey and the rest of the group slowed to a stop next to him and Joey said, "What? What is it?" Joey looked closer at the figures as they began to come into focus and was startled at what he saw.

It was Malik, sitting on top of a bleeding and crying Marik and beating him.

Ishizu gasped and put a hand over her mouth. The group ran down the hall, Odion crying, "_Master Marik!"_

When they got there Malik didn't look up, but instead continued to beat Marik, who Joey saw was crying and screaming in pain.

"Odion…!" Marik sobbed as the demon on top of him continued to pound him to pieces. "Help me! _Please!_"

Odion tried to pull Malik off of Marik, but the demon was too strong and continued to beat on Marik. Joey leapt at Malik and helped try to get him off Marik, but Malik was persistent in his sadistic attack. Joey and Odion wrapped their arms around Malik's waist and managed to pull him off. Marik scrambled away as the demon started screaming and struggling to get away from Odion and Joey, thrashing wildly and trying to hit them.

"Help me out 'ere, you guys!" Joey shouted, as Ishizu, Tea and Yugi jumped at Malik and tried to hold him down. He flailed and screamed, his arms thrashing around wildly…

And then Malik said, "Oh, look at all the pretty birdies", stopped moving, and fell limp as Joey saw Kaiba take his syringe out of Malik's left arm.

* * *

Ishizu and Odion rushed over to Marik, who had scrambled away from his dark half and was now several feet away from his dark side's unconscious body. Marik was leaning against the wall trying not to cry, his hand resting on his bruised stomach. Marik heard Kaiba and Joey arguing about wasting the knock-out medicine, but he wasn't paying much attention to their conversation. "M-Master Marik!" Odion said, clutching Marik's hand. "I am so sorry for not arriving sooner."

"Odion… th-thank you." Marik managed to get out. "Once again you saved me from my d-dark side." Marik whimpered from the effort it took to speak.

"Oh, my brother," Ishizu said. "Are you alright? Do you need to go to the hospital?"

"N-No, sister, it's not that bad," Marik said, trying to stand up but wincing and sitting back down again. He wiped away the tears covering his face in embarrassment. He was feeling slightly childish as Odion kept a firm hold on his hand. "I cannot _b-believe _I actually c-cried because I got beat up a little…"

"A _little?_" Joey said, sitting down next to Marik as well. "Marik, we saw some a' dat. He didn't hurt ya 'a little', he hurt ya a _lot_."

"Joey, I don't think that's helping," Yugi said quietly, also sitting beside Marik. Eventually everybody was crowded around him. Even Kaiba (although Kaiba was standing while most of the others were sitting).

"I really would prefer it if all of you didn't keep crowding around me," Marik said. "It's beginning to make me self-conscious."

Ishizu apparently either hadn't heard him or chose to ignore him. "My brother, tell me exactly what happened," she said.

Marik sighed. This was not going to be pretty. Ishizu would probably scold him for being so reckless. He figured it was best to get it over with as quick as he could. "I came over here to look for him and then I saw him starting to come down the hall so I jumped into one of the rooms and jumped him so he wouldn't escape and-" Marik said quickly, but Tea stopped him.

"Marik, can you please slow down?" she said. "I can barely understand what you're saying."

Marik sighed again and talked slower. "I came down this hall to see if he was here, and then I was him jump out of a closet down there somewhere," he said, pointing down the hall where the others had first started looking. "So I jumped into a room and tried to jump him so he wouldn't get away. He was too strong, so when I was struggling to get away from him, I accidentally… I accidentally hit him in the face."

"'Accidentally' hit him in face?" Kaiba asked incredulously. Marik felt his cheeks turn hot.

"I… well, he was sitting on top of me and I was thrashing my arms and stuff trying to get him off me, and… yeah, I accidentally punched him," he said, pointing to his dark half's nose and mouth, which were covered in blood. "Then he got really, really angry and began beating me up."

Marik expected Ishizu to start scolding him about how he had been reckless, but she just sighed and hugged him, accidentally touching his bruises and making Marik yelp. "My apologies," she said, letting go of him. "Where are you hurt?"

"My chest and stomach, but really, Ishizu, it's not that b-bad," he said. The little stutter he had given at the end seemed to be enough for Ishizu to know that it was worse than he was making it sound.

"Marik, are you sure you're okay?" Mai asked. "Those bruises don't look very good."

"No, they don't…" Odion said, still holding Marik's hand.

"Where did you say it hurt again?" Ishizu said. "Your stomach and chest?" She lifted up his shirt to look at his chest.

"_I-Ishizu!_" Marik yelled, his face turning hot as she looked at the bruises on his torso. Marik frantically tried to pull his shirt down. "Not in front of all these people!"

"I need to know how bad your injuries are, Marik," Ishizu said, pulling his shirt up again.

"Then do it _later!_" he yelped. Ishizu sighed and pulled his midriff top back down over his chest.

"I've looked at your wounds," Ishizu said. "And while they are serious, far more so than you made them out to be, they are not serious enough that you are in danger of dying or need to go to the emergency room. You just need to lie down for an hour or two, and Odion and I shall tend to your wounds."

Marik sighed. "Yes, my sister," he said. "And thanks again to all of you for coming to help me."

"Hey, anythin' for a friend, bud," Joey said with a smile.

"Okay, this has been really sweet and all," Kaiba interrupted with a stern voice. "But I think that we should think about what we're going to do about Malik."

"Kaiba!" Yugi whined. "You ruined the moment!"

"This is important!" Kaiba said.

"Who cares if it's important, this was a _moment_!" Tea said. Kaiba just rolled his eyes. Marik heard Joey mumble "moment-ruiner" under his breath.

"You guys, I believe Kaiba is right," Marik said. "We need to figure out once and for all what we are going to do with my dark side."

"We need to kill him!" Joey said, standing up. "He's caused enough damage, he almost killed Marik!"

"Oh, J-Joey," Yugi whimpered. He looked on the verge of tears. "That doesn't mean we have to _k-kill_ him!"

"Yes, it does!" Mai said. "He's dangerous!"

"But can't we deal with him some other way?" Yugi said. Tears were coming to his eyes now, and Marik was beginning to become sorry for him.

"What weapon would you use, Joey?" Ishizu asked.

"Didn't Kaiba have a knife?" Joey said, with a hopeful glance towards Kaiba.

"I am not giving you my knife," Kaiba said crossing his arms. "_Ever._"

"Aw, c'mon, Kaiba!" Joey pleaded. "Ya know what? I'll just get it myself." He came up behind Kaiba and started digging around in the front pockets of Kaiba's long white cape-like coat.

"Hey- hey, Wheeler!" Kaiba yelped as Joey continued to search around in Kaiba's pockets. "Hey- _stop it! _I'm not kidding, that tickles- _Wheeler! _Okay, okay, I'll give you the knife, just _stop it!_"

Joey smiled proudly as Kaiba, blushing heatedly, pulled out the knife and handed it to him.

"Oh, come on, Joey, _p-please _don't kill him!" Yugi whimpered. "He doesn't deserve to die!"

"You guys, Yugi's right," Tea said. "He may have done bad things, but that doesn't mean he needs to die."

"He _attacked _Master Marik!" Odion said.

"It wasn't an attack, Marik started it!" Yugi said, and quickly added, "No offense, Marik."

"None taken," Marik sighed. "You can't deny that part of that was my fault. He wouldn't have hurt me so bad if I had taken more care not to hit him, and he wouldn't have hurt me at all if I hadn't jumped him."

"B-But Master Marik!" Odion said. "He almost killed you! We can't just forgive him for that!"

"I'm not asking you to," Marik said. "All I'm saying is that Yugi may have a point that my dark side's actions today are not death-worthy."

"See, Joey?" Yugi said. "Please don't kill him, oh please, please, _please _don't!"

"Yuge, he almost killed Marik, not ta mention all dat stuff he did before goin' to da Shadow Realm!" Joey said, approaching Malik's unconscious body with the knife. Yugi pushed away Joey, threw himself on top of the demon's unconscious figure, and started sobbing.

"Oh, p-please don't kill him, Joey, I don't wanna see somebody die, can't we just talk to him?" Yugi cried.

"Yuge, da last time we tried ta talk ta him, he almost killed Marik, now get off and let me kill him!"

Yugi wrapped his arms around Malik's neck and wouldn't let go.

"Yuge, stop dis!" Joey said, trying to pull Yugi off Malik, but Yugi held firm.

"Yugi, you're being ridiculous!" Mai said.

"Big brother, please don't!" Serenity said, grabbing Joey's shoulder. "I don't want to see somebody die, even if they're bad!"

"Then you can look away!" Joey said, trying to pull Yugi off, but Tea grabbed the back of his shirt.

"Joey, you can't do this!" she said.

"Yes, he can!" Mai said. "Malik needs to be killed!"

Mai and Tea started arguing, Joey and Kaiba were trying to pull Yugi off so Joey could stab Malik, Ishizu had gotten up and was trying to break up Mai and Tea, Odion was still sitting next to Marik, and Serenity was trying to convince Joey not to kill Malik. It was total chaos, and Marik couldn't stand it anymore.

"_Hey!"_ Marik said, trembling as he tried to stand up. "Everybody stop!"

Everybody stopped what they were doing and looked over at him. Marik sighed and sat back down. "Everybody just… _stop._ He's _my_ dark half, so I think it's fair that I should be able to decide whether he dies. Doesn't that seem fair?"

The others mumbled in agreement. They looked at him expectantly and Marik realized what he'd done. Now he had Malik's life in his hands, and if he chose to kill the demon, he'd have killing someone on his conscience. But if he didn't kill him, his dark half could very possibly try to hurt him, or worse, Odion and Ishizu. Marik sighed. He couldn't keep stalling. So he chose the option his heart was telling him was right. "I… I don't think we should kill him," he said.

"B-But Marik!" Joey said. "Not killing him ain't right-"

"No, Joey, killing him isn't right," Marik said. "We can't just take a man's life away while he's defenseless and unconscious. We should take him to that room while he can't escape from us and lock it tightly."

"Master Marik, he may injure you again, I beg you to reconsider your decision, for your own safety-" Odion said, but Marik held up a hand to stop him.

"That is my final word, Odion," he said. "He's not going to hurt anybody if he's locked in a bare room, anyway."

"Marik-" Kaiba started to say, but Marik cut him off as well.

"That is my _final word_," he said. He felt a little guilty about it, but deep down he liked having the power to boss Kaiba around like this. It was fun.

Kaiba sighed. "Whatever," he said. He grabbed Malik's out cold body not-so-gently by the back of his cape and started to drag him towards the room. Ishizu and Odion helped Marik up and tried to help him walk, but Marik insisted he was fine as he staggered behind Kaiba while Yugi, Serenity and Mai waited behind. Marik saw Tea follow behind them. Marik wondered for a second why she was coming as well, but he figured it was probably just out of curiosity.

When they got there, Kaiba threw open the door in true Seto Kaiba fashion. He stepped through the small cabinet-sized room, still dragging the demon's body behind him. He opened the next door and roughly threw Malik into the bare white room.

Marik's dark half's unconscious body landed on its side with a loud _thump_, the demon's head crashing against the ground.

"Ooh, that looked painful," Tea mumbled.

Marik took a good look at his dark side from the safe distance of the small room outside his dark half's room. He looked so peaceful and… and _sane_ when he was unconscious that Marik started to feel bad they were treating him so roughly, that they were just throwing his life around like it was nothing. He almost had to pity him. _No, Marik, don't pity the demon who tried to kill you_… But his dark half didn't look like he could kill someone now- he just looked unconscious.

Marik shook off the thought. He wasn't going to pity his dark side- it was ridiculous, Malik was evil! He turned away and walked out of the door as he heard the door to his dark side's room shut, and the lock click.

((Author's Note: Hi! This is my first fanfic. Since I'm not 13 yet, my older sister (who never really posts fanfictions) is going to be letting me post fanfictions on her account. Also, THIS FANFIC IS YAOI-FREE. Just letting you know.))


	2. Chapter 2

((AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, there are a couple things I realized I had forgotten to mention previously that I feel I should have mentioned.))

((This fanfiction takes place about one year after the last episode. The Pharaoh/Yami is in the afterlife, and will not be in this fanfiction, and all the Millennium Items are still buried deep underground (but Malik still has the power to send people to the Shadow Realm, as does Yugi). Also, the Ishtars flew in from Egypt, which is why they're here. Also, I changed the rating to T because of some of the more mature things, such as Malik flipping somebody off in this chapter.))

**Chapter 2**

"So…" Tea said. They were seated around a table at Joey's house… well, most of them. Serenity and some of her friends were hanging out in another room, and Kaiba technically wasn't _sitting_ around the table- he was standing, leaning up against the wall. He had made it clear several times that he would rather be anywhere else besides a 'filthy dog house'.

"What _are_ we going to do with him, you guys?" Tea said.

"I'm still game for killin' him," Joey said.

"Joey, we've already agreed we're not going to do that!" Yugi said.

"Then what are we gonna do?" Mai said. "We can't just keep him there in the blimp!"

"I see no reason why we can't," Marik said. "It will keep him contained, and he _is_ unconscious."

"But he ain't gonna stay dat way forever!" Joey said. "He's gonna wake up eventually!"

"He might have already woken up," Tea said. "It's been a day since Kaiba knocked him out, he could've already come to!"

"No," Kaiba said. "The medicine I gave him was stronger than the medicine all you dorks have, so it'll keep him out for at least another day."

"Hey, how come you get da stronger medicine?" Joey asked.

Kaiba glared at him and gave him no answer.

"Well, we need to do something about him," Ishizu said.

"Well, maybe…" Yugi said. Everybody looked over at him and he shrunk back into his seat. "We could, you know… you know what, never mind."

"Yugi, what were you going to say?" Marik asked. "Come on, tell us what you think."

"But it was dumb…" Yugi said quietly.

"Come on, Yugi, I won't laugh at you!" Tea said.

"I won't either," Joey said. "Just tell us, Yuge, we won't make fun 'a ya, I promise!"

"Yes, Yugi, proceed," Ishizu said.

"Well, I was thinking yesterday and… well, maybe he isn't… maybe he's not so…" Yugi started to say, but his voice trailed off and Tea saw a faint tinge of red tint his cheeks as he slid back down into his chair and mumbled, "Never mind."

"Yugi, come on," Mai whined. "I'm sure it's not that bad!"

"It _is_ that bad, it's ridiculous!" Yugi said. "And it probably wouldn't work anyway. You guys just try to think of something else."

"My friend, we can not think of anything else," Ishizu said, placing a hand on Yugi's shoulder. "Please tell us your idea of dealing with this beast."

"But it's _not_ a plan to 'deal with him', that's just why I don't want to say it!" Yugi said, pushing Ishizu's hand off his shoulder.

"Yugi," Tea said softly. "Just tell us."

Yugi was silent for a second before mumbling "okay" and sitting up a bit. "Well, like I said, I was thinking yesterday, and maybe… maybe Malik isn't all evil," he said. "Hear me out here, guys. I didn't say he wasn't evil, I said he wasn't _all_ evil. I was thinking…you can't make a whole person out of _just_ hatred, anger, and envy, right? There's got to be something else… don't you think?"

Tea thought about that for a second before Yugi began talking again.

"So… you know, maybe we could try to expand on the little bit of good and kindness he has, and try to make him… not so evil," Yugi said. "D-Do you guys think that might work?"

There was silence in the room as everybody contemplated what Yugi had just said. Tea thought it was actually a pretty interesting theory- it might even work, if Malik didn't kill them all first. The room was quiet for a few moments longer before Kaiba's voice cut through the silence.

"That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard."

Tea saw Yugi sink into his chair, his face red, as everybody started yelling at Kaiba at the same time.

"_Kaiba!_"

"How could ya say dat, we promised we wouldn't make fun a' him!

"Kaiba, that was very rude!"

"I can't believe you!"

"You obnoxious self-centered jerk!"

Kaiba retaliated with things like "what? We were all thinking it!", "its ridiculous", "he was being dumb" and "it'll never work", but the rest of the group kept yelling at Kaiba, Tea included.

"_Hey!_" Yugi said. Everybody stopped shouting and looked over at him, and Tea was surprised to find he was standing on his chair. "Stop yelling at him, he's right! My idea was ridiculous… just forget I mentioned it." He sighed and sat back down in his chair.

"But Yuge, dat was a pretty good idea!" Joey said. "Kaiba has no right ta go trashin' on it!"

"I can trash on anything I want, Wheeler," Kaiba said, still leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Ya see, Kaiba, dat's what I hate about you!" Joey yelled. "You think you can do whateva ya want just 'cause you got more money than da rest a' us!"

"Is that a trace of envy I hear in your voice, Wheeler?" Kaiba said.

"In ya dreams, rich boy!" Joey yelled, starting to get up, but Mai held him back.

"He's not worth it, Joey," she said. Kaiba smirked in an obnoxious self-satisfactory way.

"You guys, please, just forget I ever brought it up," Yugi said. "It was just an idea, and it wouldn't work, anyway- it's too dangerous."

"But Yugi!" Tea said. "It's the only thing we have so far, and I like that idea! I mean, I've never thought about that before, but it makes sense! Malik can't be totally 100% evil, right?" She looked over at the rest of them. "Don't you guys agree?"

There was silence in the room before Marik said, "I do."

Everybody looked over at him in surprise. Tea hadn't been expecting him to agree with her- in fact, she had thought he would be one of the people she would have to help Yugi convince. Yet here he was, agreeing with her.

"I was having similar thoughts just yesterday," Marik continued. "He looked far less dangerous when unconscious."

"Yeah, Yuge, dat's a good idea, no matter what rich boy says!" Joey said.

"I have a feeling your thoughts on the matter may have been different, had Kaiba not previously disagreed with the idea," Ishizu said.

"What are ya talkin' 'bout, I woulda thought da exact same thing!" Joey argued, but Ishizu didn't say anything back.

"Even if we did do this," Kaiba said. "We'd have to go to Malik's room often and risk him going crazy on all you dorks."

"Yeah, I'm sorry, Yuge, but I really don't wanna go down there often," Joey said.

"Me neither, Yugi," Tea said. "Maybe I'd visit him once or twice, but I don't wanna be around him all that much."

Everybody in the room mumbled something about how they didn't want to go near him, and it was soon clear that nobody in the room was willing to go talk to him on a daily basis.

"Umm…" a soft, high-pitched voice said from the door. Tea looked up at the door. It was Serenity. "B-Big brother, me and my friends heard you guys talking, and one of them said that they would be happy to help."

"Really?" Joey said. "Do they know who we're talkin' 'bout, Serenity?"

Serenity quickly nodded. "Yes, I told them you were talking about Malik, and I've shown them some of the footage from Battle City before."

They all thought about this for a second before Joey picked up a piece of paper and a pen. "So, Serenity," he said. "What's dis kid's name?"

* * *

Everything hurt. His head felt like it had been beaten with a hammer, his arm and shoulder stung, his face was throbbing, his whole right side was sore. Malik's eyelids were heavy as he slowly opened his eyes and took in where he was. There was a lot of white… not much here… _oh no_. He was back where he started, in his bare white prison cell.

He tried to sit up, but his head throbbed and his vision was blurry, and he crashed back to the ground. He felt incredibly dizzy. He tried to remember how he had gotten back here, but could barely from a coherent thought. His thoughts were all jumbled and incomprehensible. _Marik hurt hit face hurt hate him Odion Joey angry Kaiba horrible head hurts ow pain blood hand fool Marik tears fear anger happy amazing pain ow head hurts._

He forced himself to sit up no matter how much it pained him. His vision was all blurred together and he could only make out one thing in this bare white room: the bed. He tried to stand up and walk towards the bed, but after staggering a couple steps, he felt too dizzy to go any further and fell back down. He dragged himself towards the bed on his hands and knees and pulled himself onto it. It felt so ridiculously soft and warm compared to the cold, hard floor.

Malik wrapped himself in the warm blanket and tried to think clearly about what had happened. He tried to form a comprehensible thought out of what he remembered. _Marik hit face… hurt… I hate him… Odion and Joey angry… Kaiba horrible… head hurts… ow pain… blood on hands… foolish Marik… tears… fear and anger… happy amazing pain… ow head hurts. _Well… that seemed slightly more comprehensible than before.

He sighed and sat up. His head was throbbing a little less now, but it still hurt, and so did everything else. He was in this room again, which must mean that he had failed in his escape attempt. But how? As far as he could tell, he had been winning against Odion and Joey until he felt that sting in his arm and he blacked out. In fact, looking back he realized that something of a similar nature had happened in the dark room, when he felt that stab in his shoulder and went out cold. What could it be? _I'll figure it out later._

Malik forced himself out of the bed. He stumbled for a second and had to stand still for a moment to regain his balance. Once he was fully stable and no longer felt like he was about to fall down, he cautiously made his way to the mirror hanging on the wall.

He looked into it and was startled by what he saw. This was the first time he had looked at himself since returning from the darkness of the Shadow Realm, and he looked… horrible.

His face was caked in half-dried blood that was smeared all over his nose and mouth. He was covered in dark blue and purple bruises all over his arms, and he guessed there were probably far more under his shirt. His cape was torn, the edges shredded up, and his black tank top was wrinkled and sticking to his skin.

He pulled his cape off and looked at it. It was severely shredded up and covered in holes, much like it had been before he went to the Shadow Realm. He had seen Marik toss it into the distance before forfeiting his duel, and he had to wonder how he had gotten it back. In fact, he wondered how he had gotten any of this back- his jewelry, his clothes, his shoes.

He supposed it all just came with his new body. It would not have boded well for Malik to show up in the mortal world in his boxers, so he had most likely been given his clothing with his new body.

He shook his head, clearing his mind of his thoughts. He didn't want to think about things as trivial and insignificant as his clothing when he was in a prison cell being held captive by his enemies.

He stumbled over to the small restroom, dragging his cape behind him. He turned on the faucet and held his torn-apart violet cape under the water. He rubbed the damp cloth across his face, trying to wash away the blood. It hurt extremely, but he needed to get all this blood off. He walked back to the mirror and looked up at it, relieved to see he had washed off all the blood.

He threw his wet cape on the ground as he examined the bruises on his arms, wondering how he had gotten them. Most likely from his fights with his capturers when they had to hold him down or keep him from giving Marik what he deserved.

Malik took off his black tank top to see how bad the bruises were on his waist and chest. There were far more bruises there, but that was to be expected. He couldn't see most of the bruises on his stomach, however, due to the golden bands around his waist.

For the first time, he noticed the sticky note stuck to the top-right corner of the mirror. He pulled it off and read the message on it. It was written in professional-looking cursive handwriting.

Malik,

Just letting you know that there are security cameras in this room, so don't try anything.

~Kaiba

Malik looked up towards the corner of the room, and saw that there was, in fact, a camera there. _Wait. But that means that…_ Malik's eyes widened as he yelped and grabbed his cape, frantically trying to use it to cover his shirtless torso. They could have told him there were cameras in here before he had taken his shirt off! He could feel his face turn hot as he pulled his tank top back on. He glared at the camera and waved his middle finger at it.

He sighed and walked over to his bed. His head was fully clear and he wasn't stumbling any longer, something he took as a good sign. He sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed…

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

"_Gah_!" Malik yelled, falling out of the bed. He sat up and looked around for the source of that irritating beeping noise.

He stood up and searched the room for where this sound was coming from. It seemed to be coming from the direction of the door. He cautiously approached the door, and saw that there was a device on it. Looking closer, he saw that it looked just like the one on the other side of the door. It had a small screen and buttons on the edge, as well as a small camera on the top. When Malik stepped in front of it, it stopped beeping. He stared curiously at it for a second before Joey appeared on the screen.

Malik jumped back, startled. Joey waved through the screen. "Hi, Malik!" Joey said on the screen. "I'm using one of Kaiba's fancy techno-things so I can talk ta ya on da other side of dis soundproof door here, and you can't beat me up!" He stuck his tongue out at Malik.

Malik rolled his eyes. "So… you can see and hear me right now?"

"Yup!" Joey grinned. "And I can say anythin' I want to you and you can't do nothin' 'bout it!"

Malik growled at him. "Little Joey, if you do not let me out of here _right now,_ I will murder you in your sleep."

"Good luck doin' dat, da door's locked!" Joey said proudly.

"I have my ways," Malik said nonchalantly. "And you had better get Kaiba in here right now, because I swear to all the gods of Egypt I am going to _destroy _him for not telling me about the cameras before I… before I…!"

Joey laughed. "Yeah, I saw dat. It was so funny, you screamed like a girl when you saw dat camera!"

Malik growled. "I am going to kill you, I am not joking."

"Of course ya will, Malik, of course ya will," Joey said. "It was kinda awkward, though, 'cause Mai and Tea were lookin' over our shoulders when we watched it… and they started gigglin', and I dunno why…"

Malik just sighed. "How did I get here?" he asked.

"Well, what happened was, me and Odion were tryin' to get ya off Marik 'cause you were beatin' him up," Joey said. "And then Kaiba stuck the needle in your arm and then ya said 'oh, look at all the pretty little birdies' and went out cold."

"I did _not _say 'look at all the pretty birdies'," Malik said.

"Yes, you did."

Malik sighed. "How do I shut this thing off and make you stop talking?"

"Oh, ya just press dat little red button on da side right there," Joey said.

Malik pushed the button and turned away from the screen.

* * *

"Hey, he hung up on me!" Joey whined. He pressed the green button on the side of Kaiba's techno-thing, waited a few seconds, and Malik appeared on the screen again.

"Would you quit doing that?" the demon growled.

"No," Joey said. "Kaiba told me to explain how dis works and dat stuff."

"Well, make it quick!" Malik said.

"Why?" Joey asked. "What could you _possibly_ have to do in a bare white room with no way out?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you, little Joey," Malik answered. Joey knew that the evil spirit simply didn't havean explanation to give him.

"Kay, whateva," Joey said. "So Kaiba said to tell ya how dis works, since he just made it a couple days ago, and, to quote him, 'When it comes ta advanced technology, dat evil demon Malik has got ta be da most clueless idiot I've ever seen.'"

Malik growled at him. Joey backed up a few steps and nervously added, "Hey, remember, Kaiba said dat, not me, all Kaiba."

The demon smiled in an unsettling way. "Ah, so you _are_ still afraid of me."

"Eh, I never said dat!" Joey said.

"But I can tell from your tone of voice and the way you backed up when I growled at you," Malik said. "It appears you are not as brave as you would like to believe, my friend."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, _no,_" Joey said. "You ain't gonna turn da tables on me dis time, you evil, demonic, self-obsessed psycho nut job! I've got da upper hand here, you're trapped inside dat room with da door locked!"

"Or is it?" Malik said slyly. "This door?" Malik pointed to the doorknob. "It's unlocked. I could come out there and murder you any time I want."

"It's… it's unlocked…?" Joey stuttered, beginning to sweat, his heart racing. "But… but dat's impossible…"

"No, I unlocked it myself, just earlier," the demon grinned. "I could come in there anytime I wanted and murder you, painfully and slowly." The demon grinned maliciously, and Joey saw him start to reach for the doorknob…

Joey screamed and immediately ran out of the room, not even bothering to turn off the device.

* * *

Malik threw his head back and laughed. He turned the still completely locked doorknob. The door didn't open, just like he knew it wouldn't. On the screen, he watched little Joey stomp into the cabinet-sized room, cheeks burning red, which made Malik laugh even more.

"Hey, shut up!" he heard Joey yell.

"You actually fell for it!" Malik laughed. "I can't believe that you're such a gullible _idiot_ that you fell for that!"

"It's not funny!" Joey said. "Dat wasn't okay… dat was mean!"

Malik doubled over with laughter.

"Kay, I get it! I was kinda stupid just then," Joey said. Malik straightened up and tried to maintain a straight face.

"No, little Joey," he said. "You were _very_ stupid."

"Eh, shut up," Joey said, crossing his arms and blushing. "Anyway, Kaiba said to tell ya how dis works. So, we're gonna push dis button and it'll make a beep sound, and it won't turn off 'til ya stand in front of it, and then we'll start talkin'."

Malik sighed. "Yes, I noticed that."

"_But…_" Joey said. "Serenity's got dis friend whose gonna come in 'ere and talk ta ya a lot, and we don't want ya to know what dis friend looks like so you can't hurt them."

"My friend, if that boy does anything to make me mad, he'll get hurt either way," Malik said, arms crossed. Joey burst out laughing.

"Malik, da friend's a… it's a…" Joey said.

"He's a what? What are you laughing about?" Malik said.

"I'll tell ya later," Joey snickered. Malik shrugged.

"Just say what you were going to tell me," Malik said.

"Well, we don't want ya ta know anything about dis friend," Joey continued. "So Kaiba developed this system on dis thing where you just have to say somethin' and it comes on da screen as words." Little Joey pressed a button and he disappeared, to be replaced by a white screen. After a second, words popped up.

Joey Wheeler:  
Like this, see?

Malik said something and saw it appear on the screen beneath Joey's words.

Malik Ishtar:  
This is an interesting and unnecessarily complicated system.

Joey Wheeler:  
Well, Kaiba made it, so that's kinda what you'd expect.

Malik Ishtar:  
Yes. So… you can't see me?

Joey Wheeler:  
Yeah, but don't you think about doing anything. There are still cameras in here, and the others can look at everything we say, as well as everything that we did with the cameras earlier.

Malik Ishtar:  
So… they all saw your major screw-up earlier? When you thought the door was unlocked, screamed like a little girl, and ran away from me in all your cowardice?

Joey Wheeler:  
I… I never thought about that. Well… that's embarrassing.

Malik Ishtar:  
Okay, I know you can't see me, but I am trying very hard not to laugh.

Joey Wheeler:  
Shut up.

Malik Ishtar:  
Make me.

Joey Wheeler:  
Real mature. You're practically Kaiba, you're so mature.

Malik Ishtar:  
You do realize that Kaiba can see that statement, am I correct?

Joey Wheeler:  
And I should care because…?

Malik Ishtar:  
Hey, the door's unlocked!

Joey Wheeler:  
Ha ha. Very funny. Oh, look over there at all the pretty birdies!

Malik Ishtar:  
If you don't leave right now, I swear I will ((CENSORED because of the T rating.))

Joey Wheeler:  
I'm leaving now, bye!

The screen went black as Malik threw his head back and laughed. He had found that gory descriptions of just exactly what was going to happen to his victims usually scare people more than just saying 'I'm going to murder you.' He sat back on the bed, and casually put his arms behind his head, enjoying the thought of his gruesome threat.

* * *

Yugi had been monitoring Joey and Malik's conversation on his laptop, in one of the other rooms in the Blimp, when Joey came into the room looking quite pale.

"Hi, Joey," Yugi said, closing his laptop and setting it aside. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just… trying ta get da image of dat psycho's threat outta my mind," Joey said, shuddering. Yugi noddedin agreement. He was lucky Serenity and Mokuba hadn't been in the room, or they would have had two sobbing and terrified kids on their hands.

"Hey, Yuge," Joey asked. "Is dis- is dis, like, inconvenient ta you? I mean, having to make sure Malik don't hurt nobody. Don't ya have better things ta do, being da King of Games and all?"

Yugi sighed. He had thought about that, and whether he had the time to deal with all this. He was always getting new challenges and opportunities to Duel, but he kept winning. He'd thought this would be something to be happy about, but it had actually become rather tedious, and, to be honest, boring. "Well, no, not really," Yugi sighed after a while. "It was kinda boring before Malik came… I always won every Duel. There's really nothing better to do, and I guess everyone else feels the same."

"Except Kaiba," Joey said. Yugi laughed a little.

"Yeah, except Kaiba," Yugi said. "He seems to only be doing this because he has to, and he's probably out right now doing 'KaibaCorp business', whatever that may be."

"Y'know, Yuge, I'm starting ta get da sneakin' suspicion dat 'KaibaCorp business' is just Kaiba hangin' out in his mansion and watching TV."

Yugi laughed. "You really think that _Kaiba_ watches TV?" he asked. "The most uptight, stern, emotionless guy the world has ever had the misfortune to know? Watching TV?"

"Yeah," Joey laughed. "He prob'ly watches footage of his tournaments so he can look at himself more. He's prob'ly making kissy faces at his mirror right now."

"Hello."

Yugi screamed and fell out of his chair. "K-Kaiba!" he yelped. Kaiba was leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed.

He was not smiling.

"Eh, just how long have you been standing there, Kaiba?" Joey asked nervously.

"Long enough to hear your conversation about me," Kaiba said. His voice had this ominously calm tone to it. It reminded Yugi unsettlingly of the quiet ticking noise a bomb makes before it explodes and kills everybody. Kaiba closed the door behind him. Yugi's heart started racing. He really did not want to be trapped in a room with an angry Seto Kaiba.

"Oh, K-Kaiba, we weren't talking about _you_," Yugi stammered. "W-We were talking about somebody else!"

"Oh, no, I definitely heard you say 'Kaiba' several times," Kaiba said, still in that low, ominously calm voice. Yugi was already counting down the seconds on the imaginary bomb. 10… 9… 8…

"Eh, Kaiba, ya know we wasn't tryin' to be mean or anythin'!" Joey stammered.

7… 6… 5…

"Yeah, we were just… we were just joking… oh, god, please quit looking at me like that!" Yugi yelped, jumping behind Joey. "It's freaking me out!"

4… 3… 2… 1…

_BOOM_.

"This is unacceptable!" Kaiba screamed. "I am doing extremely important things when I say 'KaibaCorp business', I am not watching TV or making kissy faces at the mirror, I am in important business meetings! And when I watch tournament footage, I am not watching it to look at myself, I am watching it to study Dueling strategies, which is something the both of you are not near clever enough to do!"

Yugi and Joey were listening to Kaiba's lecture with heads hanging in shame, like two little children being scolded by a parent for misbehaving.

"And I am _not_ stern, emotionless, and uptight, just because I'm not a hyper, idiotic, immature _toddler_ like you two doesn't mean that I don't have emotions, you two are just annoying, naïve, immature children!" Kaiba yelled.

He seemed to have finished, so Yugi and Joey lifted their heads. Kaiba sighed and crossed his arms expectantly. Yugi saw a look in Kaiba's eyes that read, _well? What do you have to say for yourself?_

"We're sorry, Kaiba," Yugi and Joey said at the same time.

Kaiba sighed again, much calmer now. He sighed and turned to go out the door. He turned the doorknob, but before opening the door he said, "And Wheeler?"

"What?" Joey said.

"Looks like the door's unlocked." Kaiba snickered to himself and went out the door. Yugi chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, it was insultin', but at least he's not mad at us anymore," Joey shrugged. "Ah, now dat da awkward moment's over with, what are we gonna do about da whole reformation thing?"

"Yeah," Yugi said. "Who's… who's gonna tell him?"

"We're gonna_ tell_ him?" Joey whined. "But Yuge, just imagine how awkward dat's gonna be! What are we gonna do, just walk up to him and say, 'Hey, y'know those cheesy villain reformations they do in lame movies? We're gonna do one 'a those on you!' Yuge, dat's gonna get us killed!"

"Well, we don't have to say it like that!" Yugi said. "We can just casually bring it up."

"How do you casually bring somethin' like dat up?" Joey asked. Yugi shrugged. There was silence for a moment before Joey sighed. "Yuge, d'you think we're doin' da right thing?" he asked. "With tryin' ta make Malik good and all?"

"Joey, we're giving somebody a second chance, of course it's the right thing to do!" Yugi said.

"But does dat evil demon really _deserve_ a second chance?" Joey said. "He's done so much horrible stuff ta us, and I know it mighta worn off over da last year for you, but it's still fresh in my mind, and he was _evil_!"

"Oh, Joey," Yugi sighed. "You've got to be forgiving about these sort of things!"

"Forgiving?" Joey asked incredulously.

"Okay, maybe 'forgiving' wasn't the best choice of words…" Yugi said. "Um… well, I feel bad for him, okay? He's been through a lot, he was in the Shadow Realm, and… and…oh, you wouldn't understand."

"No, I don't think I do," Joey sighed. "Let's… let's talk about something else. Like… like Serenity's friend whose gonna go down and talk to Malik. Do ya really think dat kid's ready for it?"

"That's actually a good friend of mine, they'll be ready?," Yugi said. "Besides, it's a sophomore, 15. Not as young as Serenity. They should be okay."

"Yuge, dat demon just threatened ta… ta do all dat stuff!" Joey said, shuddering. "I don't think da kid's ready for it!"

"It'll be fine," Yugi said. "When are they coming, anyway?"

"I actually scheduled for them ta come talk to Malik today," Joey said, checking his watch. "Actually, they should be coming some time around now. I'm a go talk to 'em. Bye, Yuge." Joey ran out the door. Yugi waved goodbye and picked up his laptop again, opening it up to the 'Malik Monitor' (as Joey had started calling it). He was very interested in seeing this conversation.

* * *

Malik was thinking. He was thinking very hard, pacing back and forth in his large white room. He was thinking about his situation. His head was buzzing with questions. _What if they don't let me out? What if they kill me? Are they planning to feed me, or will they starve me into desperation, so I'll do anything for food? Are they clever enough for that? Are they devious enough for that? What am I talking about, they're holding me hostage, of course they are!_

He sensed movement behind him and whipped around just in time to see the door close. There, sitting in front of his door, was a plate with… a sandwich. And an apple. They had given him food.

He cautiously approached the sandwich, sitting next to it and poking it. Turkey. He loved turkey. He glared at the sandwich suspiciously. Nothing was more suspicious than receiving something he liked from people he didn't trust.

This could turn out badly in multiple ways. The sandwich could be poisoned. They might hold this over his head later on, like "we gave you food so now you have to do what we say." Or the sandwich could have a bomb in it that would explode and kill him the moment he bit into it.

He poked the sandwich again. There didn't _seem_ to be a bomb in it… and where would they even get a bomb anyway? Malik crossed that option off his mental list of possibilities. Would they hold this over his head? Well, the solution to that problem was simple. He just wouldn't do what they told him to do. Problem solved. Yami-Marik Ishtar owes favors to no man!

So he considered the next and most reasonable option: the sandwich was poisoned. There was no real way for him to check this, and if Malik was going to die from this whole thing, he really didn't want it to be from something as stupid as eating a poisoned turkey sandwich.

Nonetheless, he decided to risk it. He would never say it aloud, but he was _starving_. He had spent ten years in the Shadow Realm (which would be one year in mortal world time), and he had had nothing to eat during those years. He was making far too big a deal out of eating a sandwich.

He sloppily devoured the sandwich, wiping his face clean with his cape afterwards. He grabbed the apple and went back to pacing and thinking, thoughtfully munching on his apple. He hadn't really given the apple a second thought. Apples are never poisoned.

_Who is this friend of Joey's? _he thought. _When will he come?_ Just as he thought that, he heard the blaring beeping noise. He stood in front of the device, just to make it stop. He started to wonder how this thing worked. Why did it stop beeping when he stood in front of it? How could it tell he was there? And how did it know his name? They certainly didn't have anything like that in Egypt. But then again, they also didn't have a door that opened when you pushed little buttons with numbers on them, like in Battle City…

Before he had a chance to think about this any further, words appeared on the screen.

Augusta:  
Hello!

Malik sighed. This must be the friend Joey spoke of, since they were using the word system. Malik decided to check, just in case.

Malik Ishtar:  
Are you that annoying friend that Joey has sent to come make my situation even more difficult and frustrating than it already is?

Augusta:  
Nice to meet you too.

Malik Ishtar:  
Answer the question.

Augusta:  
Yes and no. I am a friend of Serenity's, and her brother did send me to talk to you, but not the rest of that crap.

Malik Ishtar:  
Who are you, exactly?

Augusta:  
Well, there are some things I'm not allowed to tell you. Serenity's brother says it's so you can't find me if you get out.

Malik Ishtar:  
If you don't make me angry, I… _probably_ will not try to hunt you down and murder you and everybody you love.

Augusta:  
Totally not scaring me.

Malik Ishtar:  
I should be, if you value your life.

Augusta:  
I do, I just don't believe that you, locked in this room, could do a thing to me. Anyway, you asked who I was. I can't tell you my first name, but  
Augusta's my surname. I also can't tell you what I look like.

Malik Ishtar:  
Fine, then I won't tell you what I look like either.

Augusta:  
Oh, that's fine, I already know.

Malik Ishtar:  
Wh-What… how?

Augusta:  
Serenity showed me the footage from Battle City, so… I pretty much know what you look like, what you act like, what you've done, and the whole Jekyll & Hyde business with you and Marik.

Malik Ishtar:  
I'm afraid I am not familiar with the concept of 'Jekyll & Hyde'.

Augusta:  
You know, the book? _The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde_, by Robert Louis Stevenson?

Malik Ishtar:  
I still don't know what you're talking about.

Augusta:  
How could you _not _know about… oh, I forgot, the whole 'I lived under a rock for first ten years of my life' thing.

Malik Ishtar:  
I did not 'live under a rock'. The Ishtar family lived in an underground tomb, and I didn't even do that. That was mostly Marik. I don't know much about your mortal world's culture because I have lived inside Marik and not been as exposed to the world as he has been.

Augusta:  
Also known as, 'I lived under a rock.' Oh, what, do you not know what a rock is either?

Malik Ishtar:  
I hate you.

Augusta:  
Aw, thank you!

Malik Ishtar:  
I just told you I hate you! That's not a compliment!

Augusta:  
I know. Anyway, my last name is Augusta, my favorite movie is _Dumb and Dumber_, my favorite song is _Upside Down_ by Jack Johnson, my favorite food is Jell-O, and I'm 15.

Malik Ishtar:  
My last name is Ishtar, and I don't give a crap about anything you just said.

Augusta:  
Can't you tell me something about you that I don't know?

Malik Ishtar:  
Why would I tell you anything about myself? And by the way, how are you not scared of me? If you've seen Battle City, you should know the extent of my power.

Augusta:  
Yeah, but you can't use any of that power in a bare white room with security cameras and a securely locked door.

Malik Ishtar:  
Fair point. I still refuse to tell you anything about myself, though.

Augusta:  
Tell me your favorite color and I'll tell you what they're planning to do with you.

Malik Ishtar:  
My sheer burning hatred for you far overwhelms my curiosity about what they're planning to do with me.

Augusta:  
You've only known me for ten minutes!

Malik Ishtar:  
And I already hate you. I've found that humanity is just impossible not to hate. Every human being I have ever met I hate. But I think I hate you the most.

Augusta:  
Just answer the question.

Malik Ishtar:  
Whatever… my favorite color is blood red.

Augusta:  
Man, you are just milking the whole 'evil violent psycho' thing you've got going on here for all it's worth, aren't you?

Malik Ishtar:  
It's not a 'thing', it's just who I am! Evil and violent! I'm not exactly sure if one would call me psychotic, however…

Augusta:  
Believe me. You're plenty psychotic. You're the most psycho six-year-old I've ever seen.

Malik Ishtar:  
S-Six year old!? I am 16! I am not six! Why would you say that I'm six?

Augusta:  
You were 'born' when Marik was 10, and he was 16 when you were sent to the Shadow Realm, so… you're kinda 6 years old, dude.

Malik Ishtar:  
But my soul has aged ten years in the Shadow Realm, making me 16.

Augusta:  
Oh… aw, man! But when you were in Battle City you were six, right?

Malik Ishtar:  
Well… um… yes, technically I was… I was six.

Augusta:  
Wait until I tell Joey he got his butt kicked by a six-year-old in a children's card game. Anyway, you told me your favorite color, so… you know what, I'll tell you what they're going to do with you the next time I come.

Malik Ishtar:  
Hey, you can't do that! That isn't fair!

Augusta:  
Oh, obviously you're the KING of fairness, Mr. Cheats-at-Every-Duel. Anyway, I'm going now.

The screen went dark. Malik sighed. This boy was very irritating, indeed… but interesting as well. Mostly irritating, however. He sat back down on the edge of the bed and thought about that conversation. He felt he really hadn't intimidated that boy as much as he could have and usually did… he was just so frustrated and confused by that kid's annoying… what was it called, what was it called… oh, that was right. Immaturity. That's what was so annoying about Augusta. The boy was immature, and didn't take Malik seriously. That was most likely why Malik didn't seem to scare him- Malik wasn't bad at intimidation, Augusta was just bad at being intimidated.

He figured he should probably stop thinking of him as 'Augusta'. When the boy finally told him his first name, he would have to start calling him that. When he thought of the boy, he reminded him of Joey. He seemed to act like him, only more sarcastic, clever, and… well, as he'd said, immature.

Malik shook his head. He wasn't going to think about that boy. He lay down on his bed and tried to rest… not sleep, rest. Malik tried not to sleep very much. Closing his eyes and going unconscious for eight hours in a building filled with his enemies? Malik was not near ignorant enough for that. He usually had more important things to attend to in the dark hours of the night, anyway. He tried to avoid it when possible.

He sighed again and put his arms behind his head. He tried to think about things he enjoyed, like fire, and soothing, calm darkness…

But no matter how he tried, he could not quit thinking about that irritating Augusta.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Marik's finger cautiously hovered over the green button. _There's no need to be afraid of him, he's all locked up… I defeated him with my confidence in myself, so I should be confident and it'll be okay…_

But what if Marik woke him up and the demon got angry? It _was_ late at night, after all. Oh, why did Joey tell him to do this? Couldn't he have sent that August kid to tell Malik this? _No, Marik, don't think like that, you can do this… just don't be afraid._

Marik's finally just jabbed the glowing green button and jumped back, like it might explode. He waited anxiously for a few moments before a very tired-looking Malik appeared on the screen. He wasn't wearing his cape, but he was wearing the rest of his clothes- he appeared to have been wearing most of his clothes to bed.

Marik had never really gotten a chance to get a good look at his darker half. Two days ago, when Malik had been beating Marik up, Marik had been focusing on how to get the demon off him and not what his attacker looked like. During Battle City, most of the time he was too worried about everything that was happening to care about what he looked like.

It was almost pitch black now, but Marik could see the demon's face in sharp detail from the glowing light of the Eye of Wdjat on his forehead. He was terrified at how much the demon's face looked like his own.

Almost every detail of Marik's face was reflected in the demon's, yet every feature was different somehow, distorted almost. The demon's eyes were lavender, like Marik's, but they were pupil-less and shrouded in a dark mist, and Marik was sure his own eyes weren't like that. Malik's eyeliner was applied similarly, but not the same, and his hair was quite obviously spikier and wilder, yet it retained the same wing-like fringes in the front.

"What do you want?" Malik snarled, snapping Marik out of his daze. "What, are you just going to stare at my magnificence all day or did you actually come here to tell me something?" The demon gave a crooked grin. Marik noticed that Malik's teeth were significantly sharper than his own, the canines almost fang-like. "You're lucky I don't sleep or you would be dead for waking me up."

"Um, well, J-Joey told me to…" Marik stammered. Why was he so afraid? It was much easier to be confident when Malik was just an eye and a voice, but when he was in a full (and very muscular and intimidating) body it was much harder. "He told me that I-I should…"

"_Oh, J-J-Joey t-told me t-to…_" Malik said in a high-pitched and stuttering imitation of Marik. "Get on with it, fool, what did he tell you to do?"

Marik took a deep breath and tried not to be afraid of this demon. He looked up at Malik, who had a big toothy grin on his face, obviously enjoying Marik's fear. Marik wasn't going to give him that satisfaction… he wasn't afraid of him, Malik was locked up, he couldn't do anything to him, Marik was going to have courage!

Marik straightened up and crossed his arms. "Joey told me to tell you that I and my family will also be occupying the Blimp, in different rooms, as we do not currently have another place to stay," Marik said, his confidence slowly returning. "We will also be acting as your prison guards, to make sure that you don't escape, so don't even try to. If you hurt, threaten, or attempt to kill any of us, _especially_ Odion, we will kill you on the spot, no hesitation. So don't you dare try to… try to…"

His voice trailed off as he saw the demon's head hanging and his shoulders shaking. Was he… crying? No, he wasn't crying, he was… he was… he was snickering. Trying to hide it, but Marik could now hear his laughter very clearly, and it started to grow louder until the demon finally threw his head back and laughed, loud and insane, an unsettling 'KHAHAHA' sound.

It's amazing how fast one's confidence can vanish.

"Really, I just find the authoritative tone in your voice _hilarious_," Malik snickered. "Like you think you somehow have some sort of authority over me just because we're separated by a door."

Marik didn't know what to say. The demon had taken all his confidence away with that disturbing escalating laugh that Marik seriously wished he would stop doing. "Y-You're locked up," Marik said stupidly.

"Oh, I won't be for long," Malik said. "And when I get out, you are going to be the first to die."

"You are locked up!" Marik repeated, his confidence returning once again. It was as his courage had an on and off switch. Malik would turn it off, and then Marik would turn it back on again. "You are not getting out of that room anytime soon, this door is locked, and you are trapped!"

Marik looked perfectly calm. He wasn't even looking at Marik, which Marik found rude.

"Marik," he said. "I'm going to clear something up with you that you don't seem to be understanding. I am better than you."

Marik looked at him. The demon's face was expressionless and calm as he continued talking. "I beat you in almost every area," his dark side continued. "I have all the strengths you have and more, and I have none of your pathetic weaknesses."

"Y-You're… you're not… you're not better than me," Marik said. Seriously, he was going to have to work on not sounding so stupid every time he spoke.

"Do I have emotions? Do I have to waste my time worrying about the safety of others? Do I fall in love? Do I have friends?" Malik said. "The answer to all those questions is 'no'. Those are all weaknesses that you, being a normal human being, have, that I _don't._ That makes me better than you."

"Friendship isn't a weakness. None of those things are weaknesses. They make a person good." He sighed and shook his head. "I'm done with this conversation. I'm not going to let you bully and intimidate me into fear another time. You are locked up and that is how it is going to stay."

Just as he was about to push the red button to hang up, he heard Malik say, "Have it your way. Sleep well, then. Oh, and by the way, I know you haven't been watching the security cameras the _entire_ time, so…" The demon held up a large glass mirror shard with a jagged edge. "I went ahead and smashed that mirror and broke off a piece… this'll be useful to pick the lock with, don't you think?"

The screen went black.

Marik stood there for a second, staring at the dark screen. Could his dark side really pick the lock with that? It was too large… wasn't it? And did his dark side even _know_ how to pick a lock? Marik didn't know how to pick a lock, and he seriously doubted that Malik had had any time during Battle City to learn how to do it himself… but nonetheless, Marik would probably be seeing his dark side in his nightmares, if he ever managed to fall asleep.

Marik went to his room in the large Blimp, two to three doors down from Malik's room. He couldn't sleep at all, and for a long while, every time he heard a bump or a noise, he'd go completely still and his pulse would speed up. He couldn't take it anymore. He heard one more bump in the night and finally snapped.

"_Ishizu!_" Marik screamed, running to Ishizu's room and dragging his blanket behind him. He opened the door to Ishizu's room and tiptoed over to her. He shook her awake.

"What is it, Marik?" she mumbled drowsily, sitting up. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, um, well, I… I just finished talking to Malik…" Marik said.

"Yes?" Ishizu said, looking at Marik expectantly.

"And… well, it turns out he broke his mirror, and he said that he would be able to pick the lock with one of the glass shards." Marik said quietly. "I… I don't think he actually can, because it was a big shard and I don't think he knows how, but still… I'm really scared."

Ishizu sighed. "We will talk to the others about him breaking his mirror as soon as possible, but for now I do not believe there is need to be afraid of him escaping," she said. "I myself am aware of how to pick a lock- do not ask me how I know- and it requires a very small pointed object to do so, and if the shard was large, he would most likely not succeed."

"O-Okay," Marik said. He was silent for a moment before saying, "Um, Ishizu… m-my room is only two or three doors down from Malik's, and I really just… don't want to sleep in there tonight, so can I… can I sleep in… can I sleep in your room?"

Ishizu smiled and let him sleep in her room. Marik felt quite childish, sleeping in his older sister's bed, but he was a little less scared than he had been before.

_This'll_ _be useful to pick the lock with, don't you think?_

* * *

Malik was pacing again. It seemed to be morning now. He could tell because the lights had turned back on, which they seemed to do when morning arrived.

His shattered and destroyed mirror was lying off to the side, all it's shards in a pile. He had shattered it because he had been angry and frustrated and confused- not because he had intended on picking the lock. What he had said to Marik had merely beenan empty threat. Malik didn't even know how to pick a lock. He was simply going to act as though it hadn't happened until somebody brought it up: his weak half was the only one who knew about it, after all.

Malik had been pacing for quite some time now, since a while after his and Marik's conversation. He had eventually gotten bored of just lying in bed, so he'd gotten up and started pacing and thinking.

He was thinking about Duel Monsters. It was something he hadn't given much thought to since he came back, but now it was the only thing on his mind. He thought about his past Duels… his Ra card… he wondered if they'd give him some cards to keep him occupied while he was in here.

While he was thinking about this game, he heard that irritating beeping noise again. He rushed over to the screen to make it stop. It was extremely annoying, it sounded like a cross between a little girl laughing and an alarm clock, both sounds Malik didn't like.

He stood in front of the screen for a moment before words once again appeared on the screen.

Augusta:  
Hello!

Malik sighed. The annoying Augusta boy again. He braced himself for another 15 minutes of sheer irritation. At least today, he would figure out what they were planning to do with him.

Malik Ishtar:  
You again.

Augusta:  
Yup, me again! And I have something to tell you.

Malik Ishtar:  
Yes, you do. Tell me what they're planning to do with me.

Augusta:  
I'll get to that in a second.

Malik Ishtar:  
Hey, you can't do that! You said that you'd-

Augusta:  
What I wanted to tell you was that yesterday, Serenity's bro and the others were still thinking you might get out, but then Kaiba started yelling at them about doubting the efficiency of his locks. Then I said, 'Wow, Kaiba, I didn't know your hair was so efficient' and he yelled at me. Anyway, so everybody decided that it would be okay for me to show you what I look like and tell you my first name.

Malik Ishtar:  
Then do it, so you can get on with telling me what they're going to do with me.

Augusta:  
Okay… here we go…the big reveal… what I look like… here we go… brace yourself… get ready…

Malik Ishtar:  
Shut up and get on with it!

Augusta:  
Okay, okay! Touchy…

The screen went black for a moment before a… a girl appeared on the screen.

She was wearing a white T-shirt, a black jacket, and jeans. She had long, flowing blood-red hair that went down to her hips, with her bangs pulled back. Her eyes were a brilliant and striking green, and she had long dark eyelashes. Malik had to admit, she was quite attractive looking.

AT first, Malik thouight there had been some sort of mistake. "Who are you?" he asked. "Are you one of Kaiba's maids?"

"No, you idiot," she said, rolling her eyes. "I'm Augusta. Elizabeth Augusta, but you can call me Liz."

Malik stood completely still, frozen in shock. Augusta was… a _woman_!? But that was impossible! Augusta was supposed to be a boy! "_You're _Augusta?" Malik asked incredulously.

"Yeah… you got a problem with that?" this girl said, crossing her arms.

"Y-You… you… you have b-breasts," Malik stammered in shock.

"Thank you for that amazingly helpful observation," the girl said, zipping up her jacket so that it covered her white T-shirt. "I can finally sleep peacefully at night knowing that you are aware of the fact that I have breasts. What are you so surprised at?"

"I thought you were a… I th-thought you were… a boy," Malik stammered, still staring at her. A look of realization came over the girl's face as she clapped a hand to her mouth and started laughing.

"I haven't mentioned I'm a girl before?" she asked. "I could probably see why you'd think I was a guy…" She looked down at her jeans and T-shirt, which usually wasn't what girls Malik knew wore. "I'm not usually very… well, I'm not... lwt's just say I'm no Mai Valentine."

Malik just kept staring at her. "So… the person I was talking to yesterday… was _female_?"

"Yes, that 'person' was me," the girl said. "Well, you certainly seem… _shocked_."

"I am," Malik said. "It's just that… I thought you were a guy, and I had been thinking of you as a guy and it's just really surprising to learn that you are not a guy."

The girl- Augusta, apparently- smiled at that.

"So…" Malik said. "Now that you are 'Augusta', what did you say your first name was again, my dear?" His shock was beginning to fade as he started to take in the fact that Augusta was a girl. It was surprising, but it didn't make Malik think of him-_ her_- any differently.

"Elizabeth, but you can call me Liz," the girl- Elizabeth- said.

"I would prefer not to," Malik said.

"And why's that?"

"I don't use nicknames for people I hate," Malik snapped. Just because she was a girl didn't mean Malik hated her any less, or thought she was any less annoying.

"It's not a nickname, it's just a shortening of my kinda long name so you don't have to say it all," Elizabeth said. "But if you wanna say my entire name, do it then. I don't care; it's your wasted time." She stuck her tongue out at him.

Malik rolled his eyes. "I'm still going to call you Elizabeth, no matter what you say," he said. "And can we go back to the 'words on a screen' system? Your appearance is very distracting."

"We can do that while I try to figure out whether that was a compliment or an insult," Elizabeth said. "And I'll be using my full name now." The screen went blank, and Malik said the first words this time.

Malik Ishtar:  
My comment was neither a compliment nor an insult. It was simply a statement of fact. The fact that you are a female was throwing me off, and looking at you kept distracting me.

Liz Augusta:  
Ah.

Malik Ishtar:  
So, now it is time to fulfill your promise to me.

Liz Augusta:  
What promise?

Malik Ishtar:  
The promise where you said you'd tell me what they were planning to do with me, my dear. Your gender and looks were distracting, but now it's time to tell me what they're going to do with me.

Liz Augusta:  
Well, this might seem a little strange, but it's what they wanna do, and I think it's a good idea too. It's a little weird and you might not like it, but-

Malik Ishtar:  
Are they going to kill me or not!?

Liz Augusta:  
No, they're not going to kill you.

Malik Ishtar:  
Good. That's the most important thing that I really wanted to know. So, what are they gonna do, just leave me in here until I can't stand it and go insane?

Liz Augusta:  
You're already insane. Wouldn't be much use in doing that.

Malik Ishtar:  
I am not insane!

Liz Augusta:  
'Yes, _shuffle_, Pharaoh! And pray that my Egyptian God Card ends up on the bottom!' Insanely sticks tongue out.

Malik Ishtar:  
I wouldn't call that insane… more like slightly unstable…

Liz Augusta:  
'Slightly unstable'?_ Slightly_? Dude, you are crazy!

Malik Ishtar:  
Just tell me what they're going to do already!

Liz Augusta:  
If you admit that you're insane.

Malik Ishtar:  
You're so annoying.

Liz Augusta:  
I wouldn't say I'm annoying… I'm just 'slightly irritating'.

Malik Ishtar:  
And annoying.

Liz Augusta:  
Well, if that's the case I'll never tell you what they're going to do with you. Oh, look at the time, I've got to go. Bye!

Malik Ishtar:  
Wait! Okay, you're not annoying, and I'm… more than slightly unstable. Will you tell me now, please?

Liz Augusta:  
Looks like somebody's desperate.

Malik Ishtar:  
I'm not desperate! I'm never desperate.

Liz Augusta:  
Did you actually intend on letting Marik 'rule the world' with you?

Malik Ishtar:  
Of course not.

Liz Augusta:  
So it was just a desperate attempt to get him not to send you to the SR.

Malik Ishtar:  
Assuming 'SR' means 'Shadow Realm', I suppose it was, yeah-

Liz Augusta:  
DESPERATE!

Malik Ishtar:  
I hate you. With a burning passion.

Liz Augusta:  
Good for you. Now, do you wanna hear what they're gonna do with you or not?

Malik Ishtar:  
Of course I do, you moron!

Liz Augusta:  
Okay, so you know those lame villain reformations they do in cheesy kid's movies? You know, when they don't have a strong enough plot to actually keep the bad guy evil and kill him off?

Malik Ishtar:  
'Villain reformations'? Oh, I do not like where this conversation is going…

Liz Augusta:  
Well, normally I don't like those villain reformations, but…

Malik Ishtar:  
Oh God, no. Please don't be about to say what I think you're about to say.

Liz Augusta:  
We're going to try to make you good!

Malik Ishtar:  
Go ahead and switch back to the camera mode thingy. I want to be able to look you in the eye when I tell you this.

The screen went black for a moment before Liz appeared on the screen again, and Malik looked straight into her vivid green eyes.

"No."

"Oh, come on!" Elizabeth said. "Please!"

"No!" Malik said. "It's ridiculous. I am evil, I like being evil, and evil is how I'm going to stay. I was just talking to Marik last night, and I mentioned how all of that normal human being stuff, like having friends, normal emotions, and falling in love are all _weaknesses_. Weaknesses that I, being evil and okay with it, _don't have_."

"Okay, first of all, _none_ of those things are weaknesses," Elizabeth said. "Not one of them. You don't even know what a weakness is."

"You are very annoying."

"Aw, c'mon, at least consider it!" Elizabeth whined, apparently ignoring him.

"Elizabeth Augusta, under no circumstances would I _ever_ allow myself to be reformed like that and become weak," Malik snarled.

"You wouldn't be becoming weak!" Elizabeth said. "Maybe once you're good they'll let you out of here…"

"No."

"Well, you really don't have any other options," Elizabeth said, crossing her arms stubbornly. "It's either be good, die, or go back to the Shadow Realm. Being good is the best option available."

"I'm still not going to do it," Malik said. It was a ridiculous idea. What about 'pure evil' were these people not getting?

The girl shrugged. "Fine. Think about it, though, because you don't have many options."

She pressed a button and the screen went black.

Malik sighed. He began pacing again, thinking.

* * *

Liz stood in the small cabinet-sized room for a while longer after she had hung up, thinking. She figured once Malik realized he didn't have any other options, he'd be more open to the reformation idea... although it did sound lame every time she used the word 'reformation'.

It had been very interesting talking to him when he wasn't just words on a screen. Yes, most of their conversation had been the Text System, but it had been easier to talk to him in Camera Mode. She liked being able to look people in the eye when she spoke to them.

Malik was definitely interesting… and an evil, malicious, violent jerk. But interesting as well.

She sighed and walked out of the cabinet-sized room, grabbing her backpack as she left. She made her way to the room where Yugi was usually monitoring. He had told her the day before that he kind of liked being able to be in a blimp again. He said it brought back memories of the Battle City blimp.

When she entered the Yugi Monitoring room, she was surprised to find Yugi there, his laptop open. "Wow, Yugi, it's kind of early, don't you think?"

Yugi yelped and jumped slightly. "You startled me!" he said. "And yeah, I guess it's kinda early, but I heard you were gonna come down here this morning, so I got up early and came here. I needed to monitor, since nobody else does it."

Liz rolled her eyes. "Yugi, we all know there's no need to actually monitor. What's the worse he could do? What, you think he's gonna call me annoying and I'll fall down dead?"

"No," Yugi said. "It's just that we told him we'd be monitoring, and if we don't monitor it'd be lying."

Liz sighed. "I guess you're right." She mumbled, "But it is kind of an invasion of privacy..."

"We've got to make sure he doesn't escape and kill somebody!" Yugi said.

"Okay, okay!" Liz said. She sat down next to Yugi and looked over at his laptop, setting her backpack aside. "So, what, you can just look at what we're saying?"

"Yeah," Yugi said, showing her the monitoring thingy. "It just shows up like it would on your guys' screen. It's kinda interesting the kind of conversations you guys have with Malik. I wouldn't be near brave enough to go down there and talk to him."

"It's got nothing to do with bravery, he can't do anything to you on the other side of a locked tight door," Liz said.

"Still, it looks nerve-racking," Yugi said. Liz shrugged.

"Hey, Liz?" Yugi said after a second. "You think Malik'll eventually say okay to the whole 'reformation' thing?"

"I _know_ he will," Liz said confidently. "He hasn't got any other options."

"Okay," Yugi said. "I'm… actually pretty interested in seeing what a reformed Malik is like."

"Me too," Liz said. "He'll probably still be a jerk, but at least he won't be an evil, psychotic, murderous jerk."

"Assuming he even agrees to do it…" Yugi mumbled.

Liz rolled her eyes. "He will," she said. "I know he will. And, since I'm gonna be the one doing most of the reforming, I might need to actually go into his room once and a while…"

"No."

"Please, Yugi?" Liz whined. "Why can't I?"

"I don't want you getting hurt," Yugi said. "Everybody else's main reason for not being as afraid of him is that he can't do anything behind a locked door, he could hurt you real bad!"

"Yugi, that's everybody _else's_ thing," Liz said. "You've known me for a long time, you should know that I'm not like Tea or Serenity or Mai! I can actually defend myself!"

"First of all, Tea _can_ defend herself, and secondly, strong as you may be you can't outfight Marik's dark side!" Yugi said. "He's a _lunatic_!"

"Yes, I can," Liz said, crossing her arms. She sighed and picked up her backpack. "We should be getting to school, but we will discuss this later." She waved goodbye to Yugi and was out the door.

* * *

Yugi sighed as he sat for a while longer in the room. He didn't care if he was late to school- he had stuff to think about.

Should he let Liz go in the room? No, she'd get hurt… and even if she didn't, when she opened the door Malik might escape… but she really wanted to, and she might be able to defend herself, and she couldn't really completely reform him unless they were talking face-to-face… he banged his head against his laptop in frustration.

It wasn't really his decision to make, anyway. They had kind of split up into unspoken groups here- Joey made sure Malik didn't escape, and Kaiba gave them cool techno-stuff. The girls (besides Ishizu and Liz) made and brought Malik food (Liz had been much opposed to this idea and called it sexist, but then she saw what Joey and Odion's cooking looked like and changed her mind). The Ishtars guarded, Liz was the one who talked to him and was going to try to reform him, and Yugi monitored Malik.

A decision like this would probably fit into either Joey's department or the Ishtars. Joey was probably already at school, so Yugi decided he should consult one of the Ishtars and talk to Joey later.

He set aside his laptop and started to go towards Marik's room. The rooms were all numbered, and Marik's room was Room 157. He was currently at Room 147, so he counted off the doors while he walked. 148… 149… 150… 151… 152… 153- Oh, god. 153. Malik's room. Yugi could tell because it had a padlock on it. As he slowly tiptoed past Malik's door, he held his breath, like how he had heard some people do when walking past cemeteries.

Yugi let out his breath as he finally passed Malik's door. He had been walking so slowly and cautiously it had taken quite a while just to get past the door. Yugi sighed and continued forward, but when he was at 155, he stopped. _Is this honestly what I've come to? That I can't pass a locked door without being scared to death? The Pharaoh showed me courage, I should use it!_

Yugi backed up until he was in front of Malik's door again. "You don't scare me," he mumbled. "You're all locked up… you can't do anything to me." He glared confidently at the door. He bravely stuck his tongue out at it. "You don't scare me," Yugi repeated, louder this time. He'd done it! Malik didn't scare him, Yugi was brave, he could do it, he-

_Bang._

Yugi shrieked and jumped about a foot in the air.

"Yugi, it's okay, it's only me!"

Yugi looked over down the hall. Marik was standing quite a ways down the hall, not by his room. He was standing in front of Ishizu's room, actually... Yugi's face turned red. It must have just been Marik closing the door. Marik came down the hall to Yugi.

"What… what were you doing?" Marik asked.

"Um…" Yugi said, glancing towards Malik's door. "I was… nothing. It doesn't matter. And Marik, did you just come out of Ishizu's-"

"_Gah_, no, no I did not, come on Yugi let's talk in my room come on," Marik said, his face burning red, cutting Yugi off and shoving him into Marik's room.

"Um… okay…" Yugi said questionably, sitting down in one of the chairs in Marik's room. Marik didn't have to go to school, since he had just come from Egypt and had never gone to school before. "Marik, there's something I need to talk to you about…"

"I need to talk to you about something first," Marik said. "Last night I was speaking with Malik, and right before I left he held up a jagged piece of glass and said he'd smashed his mirror and that he was going to pick the lock and hurt somebody with that piece of glass."

"W-What!?" Yugi squealed. "He broke his mirror? Oh, I knew I should've been monitoring more, oh no, oh no, oh god no, and now he's gonna get out and it'll be all my fault and-"

"Yugi, _Yugi_!" Marik said. "Calm down. While him breaking his mirror _is_ a problem, because now there are jagged glass shards in his room, Ishizu told me that he can't actually pick the lock with that glass because it's too large."

"B-But still, he broke his mirror and I wasn't watching and now he could use it as a weapon and nobody can go in there anymore at all to do anything, especially not Liz, which is what I wanted to talk to you about, but now it's no use because she'll never be able to go in there and to think I was gonna try to make him good and-"

"_Yugi!_" Marik said. "Just calm down. We'll talk to everybody about this after you all go to school. Just- just go to school, and we'll talk about this later. Okay?"

"O-Okay," Yugi whimpered. "Bye, Marik." Yugi went out the door, going back to his monitoring room and grabbing his backpack. He headed out the door of the blimp, knowing he wouldn't be able to pay attention to a thing in school.


End file.
